Coast Guard DG: We are working with zero tolerance against yaba

Bangladesh Coast Guard Director General (DG) Rear Admiral Aurangzeb Chowdhury has said they have taken a zero tolerance policy against all kinds of narcotics following the directive of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“To protect the youths of the country from drug abuse, coast guards have been conducting raids from all bases, stations and outposts. To make local people aware of the consequences of drugs, it’s also carrying out public awareness programs regularly,” he said at a press conference on Monday, according to a press release from the force.
He said: “A group of drug dealers are exploiting the youths of the country through selling drugs to them, as yaba is a highly addictive drug, which is having a negative effect on the young generation.”
He also added, “There are routine raids performed by the coast guard to prevent the widespread of this deadly drug.”
In 2016 Tk293.34 crore and in 2017 Tk152.67 crore worth of yaba were seized and destroyed.
So far in 2018, 6.238 million pieces of yaba were seized, the market value of which is Tk312 crore.
The DG also praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina saying she had tabled the bill to establish the Coast Guard back in 1994, and the next year the force was created.
“To establish the prime minister’s zero tolerance policy against narcotics, all of us will have to work together. On one front, the law enforcement agencies are working to stop the supply of drugs, but everyone else from all tiers of the society will have to stop their demand,” Aurangazeb said.